David Jaffe's Got A Thing Or Two To Say About Gameplay And Cinematics.

A great score no doubt, but somewhat out of line with the general consensus. While Uncharted 3 garnered 9's and 10's from most publications, Eurogamer's review generated a reasonable amount of vitriol mostly because it seemed to argue against what the franchise tries to achieve. Namely, put you in the seat of a roller-coaster ride.

Observing the review, legendary PlayStation developer David Jaffe has chipped in on the debate on his blog.

“A lot of people ask me if I’d ever make another God of War and I always say the same thing: if it were God of War meets something like Zelda (formula wise), then yes. But if it were God of War using the current formula, I would not,” he said.

“For me – and this is just me personally – directing God of War made me realize that as a game designer and certainly as game director I want our games to serve the gods of gameplay first and foremost.

“My and the team’s desire to tell a story/make a movie may or may not get to be fulfilled, but if we do tell a story, it will never come at the expense of the gameplay – the thing that makes our medium matter and special. Games can have story (and many should, such as God of War) and most games – even pure play games – should have strong world and IP.

“But working on God of War made it clear that if we have to cut a set piece or bit of spectacle because of our desire to put play first, then so be it.”

Jaffe continued that despite the furore surrounding cinematic games, it's actually the most mechanical experiences that sell best.

“Look at Guitar Hero, Modern Warfare 3, Angry Birds, Farmville, Mario, Madden, Wii Sports, and on and on and on. Hell, even GTA sells to most folks because they just like to mess around in the world (the game part),” he continued.

“Look at the top of the charts: the game stuff sells buckets when it’s themed right and executed well. The experience stuff sells well too but not near as much as the gamey stuff and the experience stuff costs a hell of a lot more to make in most cases.”

Jaffe's clearly got a strong argument, but we must admit we're a little surprised by this sudden "backlash" against cinematic games. Big set-pieces and roller-coaster single-player campaigns are our favourite. Of course, they are meaningless if they are not backed by good mechanics, but most blockbusters are. We hope developers continue to push both areas of game design.